Labor’s Anthony Byrne has retained the seat of Holt. On Saturday he placed his vote at Southern Cross Primary School in Endeavour Hills. 52229 Picture: Kim Cartmell
By Bridget Brady and Kelly Yates
THE Greens’ popularity surged in Holt on Saturday, but there were no surprises that Labor’s Anthony Byrne retained the seat.
Both major parties had swings recorded against them, with the Greens basking in about a 4.54 per cent swing with candidate Frank Di Mascolo.
Mr Byrne won the seat with about 55 per cent of the vote, ahead of the Liberals’ Ricardo Balancy with about 30 per cent of votes.
Mr Di Mascolo said he was extremely pleased with his results in Holt, and the overall success of the Greens nationwide.
“It was a very positive experience and I can only see that momentum growing in the future,” he said. Mr Byrne, who has held the seat since 1999, said he was “very grateful” to the residents in Holt for the opportunity to continue to represent them in Federal Parliament.
“It’s a huge honour,” he said.
“I will continue to work on behalf of my constituents to deliver much-needed infrastructure in our community, job security and the best opportunities possible for our kids,” he said.
Mr Balancy said he was pleased with his results after a short campaign and was interested to find out the results of postal votes.
Mr Balancy said he would look into why some people did not receive his flyers in the mail.
“There were a lot of people who came to vote Liberal and still did not know who I was.”
He congratulated My Byrne for retaining his seat, but said issues still remained in Holt that needed to be addressed.
Mr Balancy said his campaign for the next election started now.
In Flinders, the Liberals’ Greg Hunt retained the seat despite a swing towards the Greens.
Mr Hunt was busy on Saturday, visiting 55 polling booths throughout his electorate.
He said he was keen to visit the whole electorate to ensure his constituents knew he was serious about his role as their representative. “I’m very grateful and thankful for people having given me the opportunity to represent them again,” he said.
He said his party was in a good position to win the election.
